


Lights

by yankeetooter



Category: Chernobyl (TV 2019)
Genre: Christmas Decorations, Christmas Lights, M/M, Traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21677092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yankeetooter/pseuds/yankeetooter
Summary: Boris reminds Valery that there is still cause for merriment in the world.
Relationships: Valery Legasov/Boris Shcherbina
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Lights

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place during Christmas time of 1986. In my story, Valery and Boris are still stuck at Chernobyl, working on the clean-up.
> 
> Forgive my lack of knowledge about Russian traditions for the Christmas holiday, especially while the USSR was a thing. Any western traditions seen here must surely have been picked up by Boris when he traveled abroad. (At least, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

Valery stopped by Boris' rooms to deliver some reports one evening before the holidays. Said holidays were the furthest thing from Valery's mind right now, as was anything else remotely cheerful. The problems at Chernobyl still abounded, he and Boris wouldn't live longer than five or so years, and he was tired, so tired. He couldn't sleep and spent countless nights poring over reports until 3 or 4 in the morning.

Which is why he stopped dead in his tracks after entering Boris' suite in response to his "Come in." (Boris had told Valery numerous times to just come in without knocking, no matter the hour of the day, but Valery was still rather bashful about doing so. What if Boris wasn't dressed?) The first thing he saw when he opened the door was Boris hanging Christmas lights in his windows.

"Boris! Whatever are you doing?"

"What does it look like, Valera? I'm putting up lights for the holidays!" At Valery's stricken look, Boris gave his characteristic, "What!?"

Valery fidgeted uncomfortably before answering. Boris was ever the cheerful one, trying to keep their spirits high as best as he could in this miserable setting. It always amazed Valery how Boris could continue to put forth a upbeat demeanor, but this was unimaginable!

"Boris! How can you even want to decorate for the holiday with all that's going on? A new, barely surmountable crisis every day! And we're sick, Boris! Maybe not drastically so yet, but I see the signs of our declining health already! And the constant surveillance of the KGB!..."

Valery would have continued in this same vein, but was stopped by Boris' hand clamping over his mouth. "Now listen, Valera. I know, all you said is true. But we have things to be grateful for too!"

Valery still couldn't talk because of Boris' restraining hand, but his raised eyebrows and incredulous look said everything he was thinking.

"Yes, we do, Valera! For myself, I have only to see you and remember the one thing above all others I am grateful for."

Valery blushed and suddenly found the need to examine his shoes. "You know I feel the same way about you, Boris. You are the one good thing about this place. But all the other things are so overwhelming!"

Boris lifted Valery's chin gently so he had no choice but to meet Boris' intense gaze. "Valera, I appreciate the fact that you can see the bigger picture. I rely on you to be able to do that, to be able to see more than one step ahead. But if you let all this drag you down, it will get the better of you. Tell me, when was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

Valery didn't answer, but nodded to show he understood Boris' point.

"Look Valera, there are still good things about our world. We have each other, first and foremost. Pikalov and Tarakanov are good friends, Ulana too. Can you not see the good in all those people? How we have all come together to fight this battle?" 

Valery still looked doubtful. Boris sighed. "Just promise me you'll try, Valera! When you do smile, it reminds me what I am fighting for."

Valery buried his face in Boris' chest. "Thank you, Borja! I think, if not for you, I would have totally yielded to despair by now. I'll try to remember what you've said."

Boris nodded, satisfied for the moment. "Now, for once, go to bed early! And I'll know if you don't, believe me!"

Valery had to smile as he walked back to his room. He had no doubt Boris would somehow find out if he didn't go to bed early as ordered.

Two hours later, Boris quietly opened the door to Valery's rooms and crept in to his bedroom. He nodded in satisfaction at the sight of the scientist tangled in his blankets and snoring, oblivious to his friend's presence. In sleep, Valery was the same rumpled figure as when awake. His hair stuck up in various directions, his pajama bottoms were twisted around his ample arse, and his vest, wrinkled and creased as always, rode halfway up his torso, showing his chubby belly.

"Ah, Valerka, " Boris fondly thought, "if I didn't want you to get a good night's sleep tonight..." He quietly tiptoed out and went to find his own bed.

The next day after dinner, Valery went back to his rooms to grab something. Boris hadn't been at dinner that night, which was odd. He was usually the one dragging Valery away from his work to eat. Perhaps he had better check Boris' rooms to make sure he was okay after stopping off in his.

What Valery saw upon entering his rooms was a mirror image of the night before, except for the location. Boris was whistling some old Ukrainian carol while hanging lights in all of Valery's windows.

"Boris!? This is too much!" Even as he said it, something of the little boy came out in Valery and he couldn't help but smile. He had always liked Christmas when he was young.

Boris, seeing Valery's smile, came forward and took him by the arm. "Come see what I've picked out for your windows!" 

The first window was all red lights. "Now, see," Boris explained, "these lights represent all the gorgeous freckles all over your body." As he said this, he caressed Valery's cheek where many of the freckles were in evidence. Valery blushed and leaned into Boris' touch. Why the man loved his freckles so much he could not have said.

"Now," as Boris dragged Valery to the second window, where all the lights were a beautiful shade of blue, "I chose these lights because they remind me of the way your blue eyes sparkle, especially when I can actually get a smile out of you on rare occasions!"

Of course that prompted more blushing and a big smile from Valery, which delighted Boris to no end.

"What about the others?" Valery asked, seeing the other windows decked out in a mixture of colors, much like the ones Boris had chosen for his own windows.

Boris thought for a minute, as he hadn't really come up with any correlation to Valery with these. "Ah!" he said, suddenly inspired. "These lights, so varied in color and beauty, represent all the many facets of you that I love, from your stubbornness, to your bravery, to your caring heart. But wait! You haven't seen the best part!"

Boris dragged Valery over to the entrance way to his bedroom. Hanging from the doorway was a strange looking, plant-like item. 

Valery screwed up his face in puzzlement. "Whatever _is_ that thing, Boris?"

Boris laughed and swept Valery into his arms. "That, my Valerka, is a western tradition. It's called mistletoe. Let me show you how it works!"

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone not familiar with the concept of mistletoe, it is a Christmas tradition that if you meet someone under some hanging mistletoe, you are supposed to kiss each other.


End file.
